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This essay takes up Cohen’s inquiry into freedom and property. It celebrates his evocative example for its illustration of how property restricts the freedom of the majority for the sake of the freedom of the propertied. However, although Cohen’s insistence on a view of liberty that is not moralized is salutary in this debate, there is also some loss. There remains some moral appeal to the idea of possession even if freedom, suitably demoralized, is not at issue. Moreover, there is some risk that Cohen’s ‘denuded’ conception of liberty will fail to capture the significance of liberty and why...

This essay takes up Cohen’s inquiry into freedom and property. It celebrates his evocative example for its illustration of how property restricts the freedom of the majority for the sake of the freedom of the propertied. However, although Cohen’s insistence on a view of liberty that is not moralized is salutary in this debate, there is also some loss. There remains some moral appeal to the idea of possession even if freedom, suitably demoralized, is not at issue. Moreover, there is some risk that Cohen’s ‘denuded’ conception of liberty will fail to capture the significance of liberty and why we should care about it.